A surprisingly comfortable experience in a 1992 Ferrari 512 TR teaches me the value of practicality.

I went for a drive in an Italian supercar, little more than a week ago. It had a sleek body, beige leather seats, an ergonomically designed cabin with an A/C that blows ice cold in midsummer and a 12-cylinder engine with more than enough power to get out of its own way. The description that I have given is vague enough to cover a number of cars, from the Ferrari 599 to the Lamborghini Murcielago. So why would anyone think that I’m describing a car that is more than twenty years old?

Well, if you did, full marks to you. I’m talking about a 1992 Ferrari 512 TR.

Acceleration and speed. I had both terms redefined recently, when I went for a ride in an F40.

Much has been said about the Ferrari F40. Words like ‘pinnacle’, ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ regularly get thrown around whenever the F40 is mentioned. Yet, to go for a ride in an F40 is a truly life-changing experience.

I, like many others, had a poster of a Ferrari F40 on my bedroom wall as a child. Perhaps it was the simplistic design, the big red wing, or the fact that it embodied my imagined version of a supercar.